Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

Yes, "Amazing" just about fits the bill for this one.

I was fairly skeptical with another Spider-Man film since I honestly didn't think the series needed a reboot this early - considering the commercial success of the trilogy. But even after Hollywood had pretty much reached saturation point in superhero movies, this reboot was oddly refreshing. The Amazing Spider-Man had that effortless, genuine charm complete with a youthful appeal that was sort of lacking in the Sam Raimi films.

I was actually quite surprised by the relatively strong character development as each of the actors delivered brilliant performances - nothing less would be appropriate given the shoes each has to fill. I thought the supporting cast were stellar from Martin Sheen to Sally Fields. Emma Stone managed to inject wit, charm and a bit of sarcasm into her character, which was brilliant. Plus, her chemistry with the lead character was unbelievably palpable. Like, stupidly unbelievable. Haha.

Which brings me to Andrew Garfield, who I thought had so much screen presence to be a remarkable Spider-Man. He was awesome at portraying that sense of vulnerability and awkwardness, but didn't come off as pathetic. He gave the character a certain level of complexity that I didn't see in Tobey Maguire's portrayal and he was more swift, shockingly charismatic and he executed all his action sequences quite impressively.

On a technical standpoint, of course, everything was on point. The movie - from start to finish - was filled with well-choreographed fight scenes, fantastic special effects, top notch cinematography, lavish production design and some very good direction. Sure, the premise of the film was simple and maybe too straightforward, but I thought the pacing was so exemplary that the movie managed to keep me on the edge of my proverbial seat right until the end credits.

Ultimately, The Amazing Spider-Man was exactly what it sets out to be - a well made blockbuster film that's guaranteed to entertain. Yes, it's flawed - no question about that - but it was immensely enjoyable. A superhero flick that was WAY more than what I was expecting for a reboot. Just saying.